Rose Hips: Natural Remedies for Healing

When you are trying to heal your body from the effects of stress and long-term exhaustion, it helps to consider natural remedies that have been long known to possess significant healing properties. Among these are rose hips. Eating rose hips regularly can help put you on the road to health and recovery.

What are Rose Hips?

Also known as a rose hep or rose haw, the rose hip is known as an accessory fruit to the rose plant. When dried, the rose hip fruit and seeds are typically collected and used to make medicine. This is because fresh rose hip fruit contains a significant amount of nutrients.

Fresh rose hip fruit is a rich source of vitamin C. It is also rich in vitamins B1, B2, B3, K, and A. Moreover, it also contains carotenoids and flavonoids.

Rose Hip Benefits for Recovering from Stress

Because of its high nutritional content, rose hip fruit has been found to be useful for relieving several symptoms of adrenal fatigue.

Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome (AFS) typically occurs as a consequence of exposure to chronic or continuous stress. When this happens, the body’s NeuroEndoMetabolic (NEM) Stress Response system is no longer able to function properly. In fact, the adrenal glands, which are part of the NEM stress response’s hormonal circuit, become overworked and are no longer able to produce enough of the stress hormone cortisol to deal with stress. As a result, the body suffers a significant hormonal imbalance, which results in adrenal fatigue.

Fortunately, there is a lot of information to suggest that the rose hip fruit may help the adrenal glands recover properly.

First, rose hip fruit may contain several compounds with adaptogenic properties. Hence, these can help restore hormonal balance in the body while also enhancing your adrenal function.

Rose hips have also been found to be effective against preventing oxidative stress because they are rich in antioxidants. In fact, a study published the Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity journal in 2012 found that rose hip fruit can provide a clinically relevant level of antioxidant protection.

Finally, the rose hip fruit has also been found to have significant anti-inflammatory properties. This is a significant finding for adrenal fatigue sufferers as they often deal with runaway inflammation in the body, which increases permeability in the gut and causes toxins to enter and affect the central nervous system.

To test this, a study conducted by Kolding Hospital in Denmark provided patients with a daily intake of rose hip powder. This led to a significant reduction in inflammation among patients.

How to Use Rose Hips

The rose hip fruit can have some excellent benefits for preventing adrenal fatigue. Even better, there are a number of easy ways that you can readily prepare rose hips so that you can eat them regularly.

When starting a new food or supplement, especially if you have advanced AFS, it’s always best to consult with your physician first before trying anything. Some people can be especially sensitive to new foods with adrenal fatigue, and it is important to avoid allergic reactions as well. Also, make sure it is what your body needs at this stage.

The following ways to prepare rose hips are easy to do at home, and they are a great way to give your body that boost of natural nutrients.

Rose Hip Tea

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons dried rose hip fruits
• 4 cups water

Method

1. Combine the dried rose hip fruits and water in a nonreactive saucepan.
2. Cover the mixture and allow it to come to a boil.
3. Reduce the mixture to a simmer and let it cook for five minutes.
4. Strain the mixture and pour into mugs.

Rose Hip Syrup

Ingredients

• ½ cup dried rose hip pieces
• ½ cup dried elderberries
• 6 dried cloves
• 1 small piece ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 strips astragalus root
• 2 ½ cups water
• Ice
• ½ to 1 cup raw honey

Method

1. Combine herbs and water in a saucepan. Cover the lid and allow the mixture to boil before reducing the heat and letting it simmer for around 45 minutes.
2. Remove the mixture from the heat and pour through a fine mesh strainer into a cup or mason jar.
3. Either allow to cool, or place in an ice bath. For the ice bath, fill a medium bowl halfway with cold water and ice. Place cup with mixture into the ice bath for around 15 minutes.
4. Once cool, stir honey into the mixture well.
5. Cover the mason jar and store in the refrigerator.

Rose Hip Food Recipes that Can Support Adrenal Health

Aside from preparing simple rose hip remedies, there are also a number of ways to incorporate rose hip into your daily meals. You can include rose hips in your breakfast, snacks, lunch, and dinner.

Here are some recipes to give you some delicious ideas:

Rose Hip Soup

Ingredients

• 5 cups dried rose hips
• 4 cups cold water
• ½ tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 tablespoon potato starch

Method

1. Combine rose hips and water in a pot and allow to soak overnight.
2. Turn on the heat and allow the mixture to cook for around 30 minutes until the rose hips become tender, soft, and sticky.
3. Transfer the mixture to a food processor or use an immersion blender to puree the soup.
4. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve and discard all the skin and seeds.
5. Add lemon juice and honey to the mixture and mix well.
6. Add potato starch and allow the mixture to come to a boil again.
7. Let the soup cool before serving.

Rose Hip Breakfast Muesli

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cup steel cut oats
• ½ cup chopped almonds
• 1/3 cup dried rose hips, seeds removed
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/3 cup plain unsweetened yogurt
• 2/3 cup nonfat milk
• ½ cup apple juice
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup diced apple

Method

1. Combine dry ingredients and set aside.
2. Combine wet ingredients except for apples and mix well before stirring into the dry mixture.
3. Leave the muesli covered in the fridge overnight.
4. The next day, add in apples.
5. Serve immediately or warm before serving.

Rose Hip Jam

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried rose hips, seeds removed
• 1 ½ cups organic apple juice
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Method

1. Combine juice and rose hips together in a medium pot and allow the mixture to come to a boil.
2. Once it’s boiling, reduce the heat and allow the mixture to simmer for around four minutes. Remove from the heat.
3. Transfer the mixture to a container and store in the refrigerator overnight.
4. The next day, mix in orange zest and puree in blender or food processor until smooth.
5. Serve immediately or store for a few weeks in the fridge.

These recipes are a great way to help your body heal from the effects of stress while using the bounty of nature.

As you can see, there are many ways that you can approach adrenal recovery. One of the best is to turn to natural remedies such as rose hips. These are as fragrant as they are tasty, a proof that caring for your adrenals can be a delightful experience.